CVE-2026-43067: ext4: handle wraparound when searching for blocks for indirect mapped blocks
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: handle wraparound when searching for blocks for indirect mapped blocks Commit 4865c768b563 ("ext4: always allocate blocks only from groups inode can use") restricts what blocks will be allocated for indirect block based files to block numbers that fit within 32-bit block numbers. However, when using a review bot running on the latest Gemini LLM to check this commit when backporting into an LTS based kernel, it raised this concern: If ac->ac_g_ex.fe_group is >= ngroups (for instance, if the goal group was populated via stream allocation from s_mb_last_groups), then start will be >= ngroups. Does this allow allocating blocks beyond the 32-bit limit for indirect block mapped files? The commit message mentions that ext4_mb_scan_groups_linear() takes care to not select unsupported groups. However, its loop uses group = *start, and the very first iteration will call ext4_mb_scan_group() with this unsupported group because next_linear_group() is only called at the end of the iteration. After reviewing the code paths involved and considering the LLM review, I determined that this can happen when there is a file system where some files/directories are extent-mapped and others are indirect-block mapped. To address this, add a safety clamp in ext4_mb_scan_groups().
Metrics
- CVSS v3.1
- 9.8
- Severity
- CRITICAL
- Fixed in
- 12624c5b724a81e14e532972b40d863b0de3b7d1
- Affected Products
- 2
Fix available
- Linux / Linux< f89bba144938921a2249237ad04a0183ff3f8930 (from 9d89b9d55e25cb340c5b4b769876edc551b7a9ff) · < 83170a05908b6cf2fb3235d3065bf613ff866f3c (from 1b0edd6022a3f44ce87fea9959a9310f4628fbea) · < 4bec4a498ce86314d470ae6144120461f2138c29 (from 9eea2f57d11b30049ff996ac3eff6e0dc8089e5f) · < 12624c5b724a81e14e532972b40d863b0de3b7d1 (from 34c803edc0b3365a42efcf9815acab63b4cf54e0) · < 2a368ccddfc492a0aa951e2caef2985f20e96503 (from 321ed8d559c951e71ad2d2d69a4cf0445644e865) · < bb81702370fad22c06ca12b6e1648754dbc37e0f (from 4865c768b563deff1b6a6384e74a62f143427b42)
- Linux / Linux< 6.1.168 (from 6.1.167) · < 6.6.134 (from 6.6.130) · < 6.12.80 (from 6.12.77) · < 6.18.21 (from 6.18.14) · < 6.19.11 (from 6.19.4)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H